Article: How Much Should We Read Into Minnesota's Fast Start?

[Aaron Heckmann]

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[Citizen Strife]

The main thing for me is not letting losses become losing streaks or win one/lose one splits.

[mnfaninnc]

Not everything is rosy with the club. There are still mistakes being made. But, I would say the biggest difference has been the structure and Hynes implementing his system. 

One reason for optimism, though would be strength of competition. It isn't always who you played, but when you played them. At the time, CBJ was doing quite well, but have since fallen off the wagon. Taking 8 points from the top 3 teams in the Atlantic is pretty good. Winning against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh has been a hard thing to do recently, and Philly is always tough for us.

Why do I mention those things? Because the Wild showed up against teams that were mainly = or > than the Wild on paper. Banking those points was important! Our next 3 games are against bottom dwelling teams in the West. This needs to be where we take care of business and come away with a nice little winning streak. Really, under the Shooter era, this team has been pretty good in getting Ws against the teams they should beat. 

What is coming? And we have to put Ohgren on that list: Ohgren, Yurov, The Wall, Buium, and Lambos. Lambos isn't putting up the points yet, but his defense looks better from the +/- sheet. Speaking of Lambos, he got in his 1st fight of the season. 

I mentioned that Ohgren is a slow starter and we needed to be prepared for that. He sure looked like he started slow this season too. Perhaps waking up Des Moines will shake him up a little to start playing. It is good to know that he finishes strong, and maybe a callup around February will help.

I think Kaprizov sees these guys coming and is a bit excited about it. He knows they won't be stars right away, but this is an attractive pipeline starting to bring players out. 

We still need that Johansson replacement. While my eye test sees Johansson putting in much more effort, finishing some checks, shooting more frequently and getting into shooting position more frequently, we still need a sniper on that line to load up Boldy-Ek-Kaprizov. I've liked the way Rossi has played on that line, but the above line has the potential to be so dominant. Could an Ek-Zuccarello duo anchor a 2nd line? It would need a sniper if we went Boldy-Rossi-Kaprizov. Using a Boldy-Ek-Kaprizov line also keeps a PP unit pretty much together. It helps to not get lines jumbled up the next couple of shifts.

So, how much should we read into the fast start? I think more than just a fast start, the quality of the wins has been very good. Upcoming are Sharks/Ducks/Blackhawks/Canadiens. One would have to think that this 4 game spot should help us bank 8 points. At this point in the schedule, it's still about finishing up November banking points. It would be nice to start December in 2nd place in the Norris, I mean Central division. 

Just like in a game, in a season it is much better to be the chased than the chaser. Last season we ran out of gas deep into games (3rd period) chasing teams and shortening benches because we needed the points. You can go through stretches of rolling all 4 lines because of a standings cushion because it's better longterm. I think we should read quite a lot into the fast start, it's not just the results, but the process appears to be far better. Now, let's work on getting the '78s into more games!

[mnfaninnc]

27 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

The main thing for me is not letting losses become losing streaks or win one/lose one splits.

Young teams have a tendency to fluctuate like this, but all teams go through .500 streaks, especially during flu season. This is probably the main reason why Shooter won't flood the team with rookies. 

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Not everything is rosy with the club. There are still mistakes being made. But, I would say the biggest difference has been the structure and Hynes implementing his system. 

One reason for optimism, though would be strength of competition. It isn't always who you played, but when you played them. At the time, CBJ was doing quite well, but have since fallen off the wagon. Taking 8 points from the top 3 teams in the Atlantic is pretty good. Winning against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh has been a hard thing to do recently, and Philly is always tough for us.

Why do I mention those things? Because the Wild showed up against teams that were mainly = or > than the Wild on paper. Banking those points was important! Our next 3 games are against bottom dwelling teams in the West. This needs to be where we take care of business and come away with a nice little winning streak. Really, under the Shooter era, this team has been pretty good in getting Ws against the teams they should beat. 

What is coming? And we have to put Ohgren on that list: Ohgren, Yurov, The Wall, Buium, and Lambos. Lambos isn't putting up the points yet, but his defense looks better from the +/- sheet. Speaking of Lambos, he got in his 1st fight of the season. 

I mentioned that Ohgren is a slow starter and we needed to be prepared for that. He sure looked like he started slow this season too. Perhaps waking up Des Moines will shake him up a little to start playing. It is good to know that he finishes strong, and maybe a callup around February will help.

I think Kaprizov sees these guys coming and is a bit excited about it. He knows they won't be stars right away, but this is an attractive pipeline starting to bring players out. 

We still need that Johansson replacement. While my eye test sees Johansson putting in much more effort, finishing some checks, shooting more frequently and getting into shooting position more frequently, we still need a sniper on that line to load up Boldy-Ek-Kaprizov. I've liked the way Rossi has played on that line, but the above line has the potential to be so dominant. Could an Ek-Zuccarello duo anchor a 2nd line? It would need a sniper if we went Boldy-Rossi-Kaprizov. Using a Boldy-Ek-Kaprizov line also keeps a PP unit pretty much together. It helps to not get lines jumbled up the next couple of shifts.

So, how much should we read into the fast start? I think more than just a fast start, the quality of the wins has been very good. Upcoming are Sharks/Ducks/Blackhawks/Canadiens. One would have to think that this 4 game spot should help us bank 8 points. At this point in the schedule, it's still about finishing up November banking points. It would be nice to start December in 2nd place in the Norris, I mean Central division. 

Just like in a game, in a season it is much better to be the chased than the chaser. Last season we ran out of gas deep into games (3rd period) chasing teams and shortening benches because we needed the points. You can go through stretches of rolling all 4 lines because of a standings cushion because it's better longterm. I think we should read quite a lot into the fast start, it's not just the results, but the process appears to be far better. Now, let's work on getting the '78s into more games!

Right now the schedule is fairly even to light as far as number of games in short order. Banking points now will be of great value when the team gets into March and has to pay the piper for the league's stupid scheduling.

[FredJohnson]

Doomers expect us to be like the Juggernaut in 1915.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I think Kaprizov sees these guys coming and is a bit excited about it. He knows they won't be stars right away, but this is an attractive pipeline starting to bring players out. 

I don't disagree with this, particularly if the Wild bring in a free agent veteran forward to replace Johansson. I will say that I would feel even better about the pipeline had they drafted the guys I'd hoped for with picks in 2023.

Stramel is off to a solid start this year in his 3rd college season, grabbing 5 early points in 6 games. In my opinion, none of them were play-leading type of points that come from high hockey skill, and the Wild could have David Edstrom, who has more points in the Swedish Hockey League than all but 1 player below the age of 23, tallying 11 points(3 goals, 8 assists) so far out of 13 games in a notoriously low scoring league. The only guy under 23 ahead of him in SHL points is Detroit drafted Defenseman Sandin-Pellika, selected 17th overall in that draft, who's tallied 14 points in 17 games at age 19. 

Riley Heidt(5'11", 177 lbs) seemed like a steal at the end of round 2, but I still preferred Koehn Ziemmer(6'1", 203 lbs, #78 overall to Kings). Heidt leads his team with points/game due to 16 assists to go with his 8 goals in 14 games. Koehn Ziemmer showed up late to the Prince George season due to being a late cut while getting an extended preseason look from the LA Kings, and leads his team with 12 goals in 11 games, plus 6 assists to reach 18 points. Prince George has played 18 games overall and should have a strong year.

While I think Heidt and Ziemmer might be fairly equal, the bigger wing with the strong shot may have aligned better with future team needs after selecting big centers like David Edstrom(Wild went Stramel, but I'd have gone Edstrom) in the 1st round and Kumpulainen in the 2nd.

I was ecstatic with the Wild getting Buium in the 2024 draft as I didn't think he'd be available where the Wild drafted. Had all of the top defensemen been selected ahead of the Wild, the forward I had liked from the 2024 draft was C-Michael Hage, who is off to a nice start in NCAA, scoring 4 goals and 4 assists in his first 7 college games. His 8 points are tied for the team lead at Michigan in his first year there.

I love the Buium selection(10 assists in 8 NCAA games this year). Buium was the right pick, I've just been tracking a bit of what the other guys available have been doing. Liam Greentree(another Kings selection at #26 in 2024) is off to an incredible start in his post-draft season, with 29 points(8 goals, 21 assists) in just 14 games. I wasn't as high on him in the top 20, but looks like they could have a productive guy in this big body forward from late in the 1st.

With Buium, Yurov, and Wallstedt, the Wild do have a few top prospects coming in. Quite possible that Hunt and Lambos could contribute at some point. Too early to tell on the rest of the forwards the Wild have in the pipeline, but we could see Edstrom on Nashville as early as next season. Possible the Wild could get some production from Haight(back to being listed at 5'11"), Heidt, Milne,  Bankier, or Lorenz at some point.

Ryder Ritchie appears to be injured based upon his game total and he was not off to a strong start(1 assist in 5 games), but possible he becomes productive in a few years as well.

[Dango]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

#edited post#

 

 

I think Kaprizov sees these guys coming and is a bit excited about it. He knows they won't be stars right away, but this is an attractive pipeline starting to bring players out. 

 

 

 

I also dont think Kaprizov cares how we get there , people think he needs a 10 million dollar center but there are multiple other ways to become a championship caliber team  . I would rather see whats what before a knee jerk decision  is made  , yes the timing is going to be a little to close for comfort  " free agency 16 million , a prospect or 2 proving their worth at an early age "  and Kaprizovs decision to resign or move on  and yes we might regret our decisions .  If it fails a championship i can handle that versus being strapped in a bad contract situation for   another 4 years of hell again .  

[Patrick]

Good news is they have been winning while playing against pretty good teams. Bad news is the PK. It's bad enough to sink a season. Gotta get that fixed. Shooting % will regress, D should be able to maintain. Success beyond a first round exit requires a better PK.

[mnfaninnc]

On 11/7/2024 at 3:17 PM, Patrick said:

Good news is they have been winning while playing against pretty good teams. Bad news is the PK. It's bad enough to sink a season. Gotta get that fixed. Shooting % will regress, D should be able to maintain. Success beyond a first round exit requires a better PK.

I won't sugar coat that our PK is good, it's not. But, the % will probably tick up as we play weaker competition. The point here is, don't get excited about killing off a bunch of penalties to bottom dwelling teams. But also note that the PK has changed its scheme and priorities and that takes some time for everyone to be working completely together.